That’s 14 Fortnights In The Metric System
This entry was posted on 5/13/2007 10:31 PM and is filed under Film.
5/14/07: 28 Weeks Later (2007)Maybe this would’ve been last Friday’s entry if we hadn’t been driven out of our office and our minds by construction. It certainly took some time to consider the political content of
28 Weeks Later. In one sense, the sequel to
28 Days Later is good Leftist porn. You won’t lack for alt-weekly film critics finding the Iraq War metaphor as London goes mad from a virus supposedly contained by American troops. We haven’t seen this kind of groupthink since the hackety-hacks all invoked John Ashcroft in their reviews of
Minority Report.
(In a late development, Jim Treacher goofs on a suitable target in
this comments section.)
28 Days Later almost made it as RightWingTrash. We liked how animal-rights activists let out the rage virus that first turns England into an insane asylum. Things only got bad when we learned that trained military men can’t go for a month without sex before their officer has to promise them some women to rape. The script might as well have been written by
this deep thinker.
The sequel certainly starts out as a heavy-handed indictment. Don’t bother asking why there are so many American troops overseeing the reconstruction of London. The important message is that they’re overconfident and incompetent. Here’s the catch: Things only go to hell when two supposedly heroic jerks defy their superiors. A couple of British kids—and their cowardly father—bring the super-infectious rage virus back into the general population. Then we’re stuck cheering for the ruthless U.S. forces to succeed in wiping out the innocent and the crazed alike.
28 Weeks Later was the kind of box-office disappointment you’d expect from a movie where it becomes a good idea to kill two children. To the shock of certain readers here, we’re not saying that killing children is a conservative angle. We just think saving the world from homicidal maniacs is a smart move. And that’s where
28 Weeks Later really provides a right-wing message.
SPOILER: Thanks to those sensitive types, the movie ends with the rage virus having finally spread beyond England. The last scene is a swarm of infected maniacs at the Eiffel Tower. The only thing missing is a card before the closing credits: “This film is dedicated to the proud members of the American armed forces. Now shut up and let them do their jobs.”
Also in theaters now:
The Invisible, which is a brooding remake of
School Spirit. It's not as good as
28 Weeks Later, but those two certainly make for an interesting month at the multiplex.
Make it your own: Like we said,
in theaters now with
The Invisible—although your local multiplex manager isn’t thrilled about that. He’d rather have 12 screens showing
Spider-Man 3.
